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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. P. H. RICHARDS.

BLANK FEEDING MECHANISM.

No. 356,893. Patented Feb. 1, 1887.

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2 Sheets-Sheet :2

(No Model.)

P. 11. RICHARDS.

BLANK FEEDING MECHANISM.

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FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, OF SPRIXGFIELD, MASS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO THEPRAT'Id vVHITNEY COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONN.

BLANK-FEEDING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 356,893, dated February1, 1887.

Application filed February 13, 1886. Serial No. 191,886. (No model.)

To whom it 17mg concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampdeu and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful lmprovcmentsinBlanlcFeeding Mechanisms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of hlanlc feeding apparatus inwhich the pile of blanks is replenished at the bottom while the pickersare taking blanks from the top thereof.

The obj cct of the invention is to provide improved mechanism orapparatus adapted for use in cnvclope'machines, whereby that op erationmay be conveniently performed and each blank supporting plate may beoperated independently of the other.

To this end nayinvention consists in certain improvements andcombinations, hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 is a front elevation of a mechanism embodying my invention.Fig. 2 is a top View of a part of the same. Fig. 3 is a part of Fig. 1,showing certain parts in a different position. Fl g. lSllOWS a part ofFig. 3, with the latch farther up. Fig. 5 is a side elevation, partiallyin section, as seen from the left hand in Fig. 1. Fig. 6

shows certain details of Fig. 5 in a dilierent position.

Similar characters designate the some parts in all the figures.

The frame-work of the machine (designated by A) may he the frame of anordinary envelope-niachinc, and maybe constructed or built up in any waysuitable to properly support the operating parts. As shown in the drawings, said frame-work comprises a top plate, 2, a bottom plate, 3, sides4 and 5, and the up per frame, 6. In these parts are formed the bearingsfor the several shafts, studs, and slides.

13 designatesa pile of envelope-blanks placed on the blank-supportingplate P, which rests on and is fed up by a set of plate-lifters, S, 9,and 10, arranged in a triangular form. 1? is another and similar plate,resting on another and similar set of plate-lifters, 12, 13, and 14,similarly arranged. The plates 1? and P are supposed to be the same asthose respectively designated 13 and B in United States Patent No.0,245, granted to me April20, 1886, in which I have broadly claimed acombination of mechanisms substantially as herein shown and described.In that application also I have described a set of blank-guides, betweenwhich the pile of blanks is fed up, which guides are adapted to be usedin connection with my present improvements. Being fully shown anddescribed in my aforesaid application, said guides are not shownin thepresent case, as their construction and operation are in no wise to bematerially changed.

For communicating to them simultaneous and equal vertical motion all thelifters in a set are rigidly joined together by a horizontal frame, eachframe consisting of two arms, 16 17 and 18 19, respectively. Byarranging these sets of arms as best shown in Fig. 2 either one may bemoved up or down past the other without interference. One setof liftersis connected to a vertically-sliding rod, M, and the other set to asimilar rod, N. Both rods are constructed to slide in bearings formed inplate 3, while the lifters pass through holes in plate 2. with a set ofrack-teeth, 20, which respectively mesh with similarly-shaped gear'tecth21, on the segmental gears G G". These segments are loosely fitted on ahorizontal shaft, S, and are operated by means of their respectivehandled levers H and H, which levers are operated either by hand or bypower, as follows: Two ratchet-wheels, T and T, are fixed on shaft Sadjacent to said levers H and H respectively, and are carried by saidshaft in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 6. The levers areeach provided with any suitable thumb-catch locking in one directioninto said ratchet-wheels. These catches may he made as follows: A lever,22, which is pivoted to lever H at 23, operates a sliding pin, 24, thatslides in a bearing, 25, for mod on said lever H.

The point of said pin is formed into a catch, as at 26, working in teeth27 of ratchet-wheel T. By this or similar means, the ratchetwheels beingturned regularly, either or both of the slides M or ii may he moved upby hand or power, and either or both moved down by hand wheneverrequired. \Vhen the On one side said rods are provided ICO slide M or Nis moved clear down, as H? in Fig. 5, apin, 30, on catch 24 runs onto acamstop, 31, (shown in. dotted lines,) which serves to raisesaid catchout of notches 27', so that when said slide M or N is clear down itremains down until first raised a little by hand to disengage the catch,as described.

For operating shaft S, I have designed the following apparatus: Arock-shaft, 40, is oper ated by means of arm 41, fixed thereon, and rod42, connected, as hereinafter described, to the picker mechanism. Saidshaft has arms 43, carrying a small shaft, 44, which has on one end ofit a pawl, 45, operating ratchet-wheel WV, which wheel is similar towheels T, and may, indeed, be one ofthem. In this case, however, thesaid wheel should have its teeth 27 made radial on both sides, (insteadof on one side only, as shown,) so the respective pawls may each take aproper hold thereof. A spring, 46, (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5,)serves to hold the pawl in contact with wheel W, except when held away,as hereinafter described. Shaft 44, on its opposite end, has a guard,47, in every way similar to pawl 45,

with the exception it has no hook for engaging a ratchet-wheel. Thisguard and the pawl are shaped as at 48, Figs. 5 and 6, for the purposeof interrupting the movements of shaft S when the slides M and N have,either one or both of them, been fed up a sufficient distance. For thispurpose, also, levers H have an arm, 50, provided with a pin, 49, whichat the proper time acts to force the pawl 45 away from wheel W, as inFig. 6, which operation will obviously takeplacewhether said pin acts onthe said pawl or on guard 47, these being rigidly connected.

' For preventing any backward movement of shaft S on the disengagementof pawl 45, adetent-pawl, 51, may be used, it being pivoted on post 52,or otherwise, and operated by a spring, 53, or by a weight.

The picker mechanism consists of the usual vertically-reciprocatingstem, 60, working in any suitable bearings formed or affixed to frame 6,an ordinarypair of pickers, K, affixed to the lower end of said stem,and any convenient means for operating them. Said means may, forinstance, consist in the devices shown and described for operating theupright Y in United States Patent No. 221,835, dated November I8, 1879.For the purpose of operating the rod 42 intermittently, as required, tofeed up the pile of blanks, said stem is provided with ayoke, 64, whichcarries the springactuated lifting-hook 65. This hook is pivoted in saidyoke at 66, and is normally held against a stop, 67, by a spring, 68.Pivoted at 69 to a part of frame 6 there is alever, 70, connected at oneend to rod 42 and formed at the opposite or hook-engaging end, 72, to beoperated in an upward direction by said hook. Asprin'g, as 75, Fig. 1,is provided to operate said lever and rod 42 in the reverse direction.

The yoke 64, in addition to carrying hook 65, is also constructed in thepresent instance to prevent rotation of stem 60, this result beingaccomplished by means of notches formed in said yoke, which notch fitsover and slides on a guide, 76, formed on a part of frame 6. Instead ofthis construction, I may, however, use for said purpose the well-knowndevices heretofore employed therefor.

The operation of my improved blank-feeding mechanism is as follows: Oneof the blanksupporting plates, as P, is placed in position on itslifters, which then stand down. Apile of blanks, as B, is then placed onsaid plate, which is then lifted up till the top of said pile isslightly above the point shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 5. Theenvelope-machine being now started up, the blanks are taken one at atime from the top of the pile and carried away by carriers in the usualmanner, the plate being fed up in the meantime by means of the mechanismdescribed. XVhile this is going on, the operator places plate P inposition on its lifters and another pile of blanks on said plate. LeverH is now drawn forward, lifting plate I until the lower pile reachesplate I, when this plate is pulled out, letting the remainder of pile I?rest on the pile on plate I. Lever H is then disengaged and swung back,lowering the lifters of plate P, which is again placed on them, andanother pile of envelopes on that, to be fed up as before. In this waythe machine may be run continuously, the blanks being fed at convenientintervals. This operation of the lifters and plates is the same asdescribed in my aforesaid Patent N 0. 340,245.

The operation of the devices for driving shaft 40'. from the picker-stemis as follows: In Fig. 3 the pile of blanks B is at such a height thatwhen the pickers K rest thereon the hook does not catch under the end ofarm 72, which normally stands down, as there shown. As the pile ofblanks is gradually lowered, said hook descends lower until it finallyslips under said arm, as in Fig. 1. On now rising, the hook carries saidarm upward, and of course sidewise, (it moving in an arc concentric topivot 69,) until it slips off, as in Fig. 4.

The upward movement of arm 72 of course throws down rod 42, turningshaft 40 to move forward the shaft S, which in turn moves up the blankpile, thereby interrupting the operation of the entire feeding apparatusuntil the pile B is again sufficiently lowered.

It will of course be understood that the mechanism herein described is,both as a whole and in its several parts, capable of modification invarious ways and degrees, after the manner of machines in general,without departing from my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination, in ablank-feeding apparatus, of one mechanism consisting of plateliftersrigidly connected together, and devices, substantially as described, foroperating them, with another and similar mechanism consisting ofsubstantially duplicate lifters and debe operated independently,substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, in a blenlrfeeding apparatus, of slide M, carrying ahorizontal frame provided with plate-lifters 8, 9, and 10, and slide N,carrying another such frame, provided with lifters 12, 13, and 14, saidframes being constructed to pass each other, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, in a blank -feeding mechanism, of a slide, as M orN, adapted to carry the blanksupporting plate, a verticallyreciproeatingpicker constructed to operate on the pile of blanks supported on saidplate, a shaft having fixed thereon a ratchet-wheel, whereby it isrevolved in a forward direction, gearing connecting said slide and saidshaft, and theinterniittently-acting connectinglnech- 2o anism,substantially as described, operating from said picker to feed saidshaft when the picker descends below a given point, all substantially asset forth.

4. The combination, in a blankfeeding mechanism, of a slide, as M or N,supporting the blanks, a vertically-reciprocating picker operating onsaid blanks, shaft S, an intermittently'acting' feed mechanism operatedfrom the picker to turn said shaft by means of a pawl-and-ratehet wheel,a lever journaled on said shaft and geared to said slide and detaehablyconnected to said shaft, and a stop carried on said lever andconstructed to hold said pawl from said ratchet-wheel when the slidereaches a given height, all substantially as set forth.

FRANCIS H. RICHARDS.

Witnesses:

FRANK H. PIERPONT, CLARENCE E. BUCKLAND.

